Disclaimer: Without the lovely J.K. Rowling, there wouldn't be Hermione, Draco, Ginny, Blaise, Harry, or any other characters for this story! Scary thought, huh?

Ch. 32

"Alright, mate?" Blaise asked me at dinner.

I didn't blame him for asking. I had been horribly sick earlier, and now I was barely eating anything. I sighed and began to draw shapes into my mashed potatoes. I wasn't so hungry, but I knew I would have to eat something. I had skipped lunch as well!

"I'm alright", I responded, taking a swig of pumpkin juice and a sliver of chicken to convince Blaise, who had been warily eyeing my extremely full plate with apprehension. "Why?"

He took a moment to swallow before answering back. Blaise glanced down at my untouched food again. "Because you've barely touched your plate, that's why."

I shrugged. "I'm fine, just not hungry."

It was true, I wasn't. Today was not my day. Waking up to a stomach fever, ending up in the Hospital Wing with Hermione for several hours talking about sentimental nonsense, and then seeing Pansy looking as downtrodden as could be, and all on my part?

Yeah, today definitely hadn't been great.

Well, being with Hermione had been the least worrisome. We were friends now, after all, and talking to her seemed to make almost every negative thought leave my head. While I had been there, talking to her about life after Hogwarts, I'd felt normal.

Like I didn't have a Death Eater father and a weak yet loving mother, or that I had any affiliation with Voldemort whatsoever. I shook my head lightly. Blaise had turned to Theodore Nott to talk about our upcoming Quidditch match, which would occur a week after term resumed following Christmas break. A small smile emerged on my face, more for me than anyone else.

Quidditch. I hadn't gotten to play since the summer, and my urge to get back onto a broom was starting to become unbearable. A moment passed, and I was glad I hadn't been drinking, because my smile had turned into a small laugh at how perverted that sounded. No one noticed. I became serious again within seconds, and decided to tune into Blaise's and Nott's conversation.

"– can't believe we've got to have night practices!"

"Of course we do, Blaise. You know Gryffindor's are too scared to play in the dark. Potter and his team have already claimed all of the daytime slots, and if we're going to win the match against them, we're going to have to deal with night shifts."

"But maybe if we talked to McNair –"

Nightshifts? Gryffindor? This was all new information to me, and my stomach swirled in anticipation. They never usually announced who we would play against until a week prior! Only the captains were supposed to be aware, and it seemed that McNair had done a bad job of keeping it private. I smirked, wondering if Potter had told some of his crew as well. Of course, he had probably told Weasley, their keeper. He would have a hard time avoiding Blaise and the others. Blaise was well on his way to becoming a professional Chaser!

I glanced over at the Gryfinndor tables, surveying which players I knew would be playing for sure. Potter of course, being team Captain and Seeker, would definitely be present, fighting me for the snitch, Dean Thomas, Weasley, and –

My thoughts stopped when I saw Hermione's curly hair obscure my vision. She was sitting at the table besides Harry and Ginny, the Weasel nowhere to be found. Apparently she had reconciled with the couple. Knowing Hermione, she probably wanted nothing to do with Weasley, especially after what he done to her –

I paused in surprise as red hot anger coursed through my head. I gripped my fork tightly, and it trembled against the plate. What was happening?

I needed to calm down, I assured myself.

Hermione seemed perfectly fine at the moment, and she laughed at something Potter said, along with Ginny, before daintily taking in a forkful of mash potatoes. Still looking at her, I willed myself to relax. What had just happened scared me. I had gotten angry when she had told me what the ginger had done, but not like…not like this.

No, definitely not. The anger I had felt this time was almost so unbearable that I had wanted to find Ron and pummel him into the ground. I wasn't usually this violent, either. Before I could look away from her table, Hermione glanced over at me. She was nearly across the room, and how she had sensed my gaze on her, I did not know. Hermione stared at me for a moment, and I watched as the laugh faded away from her face, being replaced with a small smile.

My fingers tensed underneath the table. What was she doing? Neither Hermione nor I had ever acknowledged any encounters in the Great Hall, or anywhere else for that matter, except on two occasions. Once when I had blatantly carried her off of the grounds and into the Hospital Wing – but how couldn't I have, it was my fault she had gotten hurt – and the other more recently, an accidental slipup whilst passing notes in class. But that had been my fault too, really.

I looked over at Hermione again and saw that her gaze hadn't left mine. She smiled again, but this time, as her fingers went up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, they made the slightest wave in my direction.

I didn't dare wave back, for hers had been so discreet, half of her fingers still woven within her hair – that I was sure I certainly wouldn't be able to pull it off nearly as well as she had. Plus, I was sitting at a table of Slytherins, and waving at a Gryffindor – Hermione especially – across the hall would just seem too odd. Instead, I settled her with a smirk, and before I could see her reaction, turned back to Blaise and Nott.

"What's this I hear about night shifts?" I asked, but as they both began to explain, I was only able to catch a few of their words. I began to think about Hermione, and why she had thought it would be a good idea to wave at me in a Hall full of students. It wasn't as if I hadn't enjoyed it, it had been a nice gesture, and almost…

Flirtatious?

I glanced back to her again, but only for a second. By now, Hermione had resumed conversation with her friends, as if nothing had happened at all. It was strange, and I wondered if she had realized how flirty her gesture had been –

'No, Draco she was just being herself as usual, you're taking it the wrong way –'

But I knew a flirty move when I saw one. Countless girls had given me waves like that, and not just out of common greeting or politeness. And the whole hair thing, had that been intentional as well?

Now I was just being paranoid, I told myself. Hermione would never see me that way; after all, we were only friends. At that thought, I pushed away the heavy weight in my chest. I was no longer paying attention to Blaise and Nott, and they had realized that and gone back to their conversation again. Instead, my eyes found Hermione once more, and as I stared at her, I thought about why the feeling in my chest told me that being just friends with her seemed like it wasn't enough.

VVVVV

"But why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you think you could talk to me about it?" Ginny asked, and her voice sounded even more constricted than mine. I had just told her the whole story of the ball, and everything that had happened that night.

"Don't you think I wanted to? Ginny, I was too embarrassed –"

"I know that! But still, the fact that you were all alone in this…it's so sad, Hermione. Even Harry didn't know what to do with himself, and he nearly tore Ron to shreds after you ran out."

Appreciation flooded into me at Harry's actions on my behalf. I wanted to smile, but after all, Ginny was Ron's sister, and I didn't want her getting the wrong idea. Surprisingly, she was smiling even larger than I had been planning to.

"He did?" I murmured, and I couldn't restrain the quiver of my lips. Ginny beamed with satisfaction.

"Well of course he did! Gave him quite the verbal treatment. I've never seen Harry curse so much in a few sentences. . . I practically had to drag him out when Sylvia entered the room again –"

Mid smile, the bitterness in my voice from earlier returned. "You shouldn't have. That way she could've seen what a jerk she's dating." I scoffed. Ginny laughed.

"Now that I think of it, yeah I shouldn't have. And dating?" Ginny snorted. "They're definitely not dating, at least not at the moment anyways. They're more…

"Casually fucking?" I suggested.

"Well let's just say that she's another Lavender. Good Christ, that girl is probably covered in a thousand diseases! Merlin's beard…"

"Agreed, I muttered, before getting up from my bed and walking over to the window. It was paned with bronze, and had a clear view of the grounds and the lake. Whenever I was upset or needed to think, I always ended up by the window. My bed creaked as Ginny shifted.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help but feel my eyes burn as I thought of Ron and Sylvia together. Why I cared? Too many reasons to count.

"Hermione?" Ginny piped up quietly from my bed. I turned to her, and I looked away as I saw her face soften at my tear-filled eyes. She sighed, before getting up from the bed and making it across the room to me, embracing me in a warm, comforting hug. As Ginny held me, her perfume wafted from her hair into my nostrils, and I sniffed deeply, trying to inhale as much the soothing floral scent as I could.

"Oh, Hermione. Please – whatever you do – don't cry over my brother. He's really not worth your tears, and neither is she."

I laughed thickly before separating myself from her. Ginny opted to grasp my hand consolingly instead. "You're going to be okay", she said, and I couldn't tell if it was a statement or a question.

Would I really? I supposed so. Maybe a few years from now, when we all had jobs and families, I could forget about ever wanting Ron, and about all of the things he had done to me. Of course, by now the wanting had faded into more of a general sadness. Ginny smiled at me, and I tried my best to beam back.

"Well look on the bright side", she said cheerfully. "At least we're talking again. Everything's alright between us now and since you've told me everything, we shouldn't have any problems!"

I went to reply, but then I thought of something. Ginny didn't know that Draco had kissed me the night of the ball.

Shit.

But did I really need to tell her that? 'Yes', I thought firmly, for although she didn't quite know about all of the other times we had kissed minus the first time, I had promised that I would tell her everything about the night of the ball. My conscience wouldn't have been able to handle lying to Ginny after I had given her my word. Familiarly, I worried my lip.

"Yeah, about that, Ginny…"

The smile that had risen in Ginny's face slacked, and I shrunk slightly away from her.

"What?"

"Er, nothing, nothing, just forget it", I babbled nervously, walking over to my desk to organize my already perfectly systemized items. I didn't dare look at her.

"No, Hermione. Spit it out!" Ginny exclaimed, nearly oblivious to my uneasiness from her want to know what I had been about to say.

"Like I said, just forget it –"

"Hermione Jean Granger, you better start talking, or prepare to be faced with a Bat-Bogey Hex!" Ginny threatened, and my eyes widened. Of course I would have to start talking now. No matter how good I was at magic, even I was fearful of Ginny's favorite magical outlet. Her Bat-Bogey Hex was no force to be reckoned with, and Zacharias Smith could agree to that, since she had hexed him with it last year.

I cleared my throat, wincing slightly at the dryness of my mouth. Facing her, I didn't bother to step closer to her, but instead, chose to stay at my desk, where I could maybe throw something at her if she tried to lunge at me and wring my neck for what I was about to tell her.

"Ginny? Before I tell you, you've got to promise that you won't blow this out of proportion, alright? At least promise me you won't get mad."

She nodded, solemnly, her body language already contorting into a listening position. "I promise."

I exhaled, bringing a hand up to tuck stray hairs behind my ear. "Alright, since I gave you my word. There are some things I've left out – from what happened after the ball."

Ginny sucked in a breath, her eager eyes glistening in anticipation. She didn't say anything, so I continued.

"After I ran out crying, I had decided to sit on the steps. I was there, alone, for quite some time, and I figured that once I could collect myself I could get back to my room. But…then someone saw me…and…and… –"

"And what?" She asked precariously, moving closer to me.

"It was Draco. He found me in the stairway", I mumbled, all the while resisting the urge to cover my face. Ginny's reaction wasn't what I had expected at all. She simply stood there, completely relaxed and unfazed by the statement. But that was only because I hadn't finished yet, had I?

"Well. It's a bit of a surprise, but that's not so bad! Why did you think you couldn't tell me that he had found you? I wouldn't have cared as long as you were alright." She shrugged.

"He kissed me", I whispered.

Ginny seemed to have lost her ability to speak, and her mouth hung agape as she registered my words. I cringed slightly, and Ginny blinked twice before she managed to close her mouth.

"Sorry?" She croaked. She looked like a fish out of water, and in any other situation, I would have laughed.

"He kissed me, Ginny. Draco kissed me."

There was a long pause, a still and awkward one. I wondered if –

"WHAT?"

I jumped at Ginny's sudden outburst, knocking over the cup of pencils that had perched neatly on my desk, wincing as they all trickled to the floor. I didn't have much time to worry about that however, because Ginny had closed the space between us and grabbed my shoulders, shaking them roughly.

"What the hell did you just say?"

"He was drunk Ginny, so was I! –"

"Draco Malfoy, Slytherin prat, our enemy for six years, kissed you?"

I nodded hastily as Ginny shook me, for fear that she would have another outburst. A notion popped into my mind – quite at the wrong moment, actually. Given, Draco and I had never been friends until this year, but had I ever considered him to be an enemy? No. Harry, Ginny, and Ron had categorized him under that title, not me. I had preferred nuisance, or bigoted prat…

"Yes, Ginny! He did, but it's not like it meant anything. We were both drunk out of our minds, and the opportunity just introduced itself –"

"Introduced itself?" She shrilled, and she began to shake me once more.

"Ginny!" I shrieked loudly, my gaze dropping to my arms, where her perfectly manicured fingers were viciously digging into my skin. At the sight of them, Ginny's zealous behavior disappeared, and she slumped in tired defeat. Thankfully, she had also released my arms, and I rubbed them to get the blood flowing again.

"Right, sorry, promised I wouldn't blow up", Ginny muttered, before running a hand through her hair and pacing across the room. "Merlin's pants…" she muttered.

I swallowed, and my teeth found my bottom lip for the fifty-fourth time. "Like I said before, Ginny. It doesn't matter. We've talked about it, and he's apologized. We were both drunk." I added weakly. My stomach churned with guilt as Ginny paced around my room, obviously taking all of this into serious consideration. She sighed, turning to me again.

"And exactly how would you know he was really drunk, when you were completely blasted yourself?" Ginny asked exasperatedly. She still had the notion that Draco had wanted to take advantage of me, and I knew within myself that that was completely untrue. I trusted him. It had just been a mistake, a slipup from two people in a drunken haze. She had to understand that.

I pushed another thought away from my head; although it had been a mistake, that didn't mean it hadn't been enjoyable…

"He was, Ginny. I could taste the alcohol on his lips…and his tongue."I murmured, trying my best to retain the unexpected yet pleasant shudder that thudded through my frame at the memory.

Ginny looked incredulous. "Tongue? You guys didn't just kiss, did you? You bloody well made out, is what you did!"

"Honestly Ginny, what would you expect to drunken people to do? Peck on the cheek?"I asked, sensing a need to defend Draco. She was starting to make all of this sound too negative, and it definitely wasn't in his favor.

"Fine", Ginny sighed. "I agree. But how is it that it didn't go any further than that? I mean it is Malfoy after all –"

"Ginny, Draco isn't like that. He's…he's –"

Well what was he, really? Draco was an extraordinarily interesting person. There weren't really any more specific words to describe him. His personality was too broad.

"He's different around you, but around everyone else? He's not your lovely little Draco." She spat. "He's Malfoy, the bigoted Slytherin prat, dark and mysterious and bitter. And if I didn't know any better, I'd think he was fooling you." Ginny stated, and I had never heard her sound so malicious towards him. I felt outraged at her irate opinion on him, and most of all, sorry for her. It was a shame that she thought of Draco this way. Given, he didn't open up to everybody, and was often moody and slightly unstable, but that didn't mean he was some sort of freak! He was good, and I was getting tired of having to explain that to everyone around me.

"Believe what you want, Ginny." I replied, and it came out ruder than I had intended it to, although I didn't apologize. She needed to understand that people stuck by their friends, no matter what others thought. "He's my friend, and if he does screw up, then I'll be the one to worry about it, for now, at least. Maybe you'll actually like him one day."

Ginny paused in mid snort. "Well I guess you're pretty set on your opinion of him. If you want to be friends with Draco, I won't give you any more grief about it. Besides, if Blaise can handle it, then I definitely can." She smirked, but I didn't reply. Instead, I hugged her, laughing at the choking noise she made as my arms latched around her neck.

"Thanks for leaving this up to me. I know it's going to take some getting used to", I murmured against Ginny's head. She snorted fully this time.

"You're telling me", She replied, but I could feel her smile through her words. That was what I loved about Ginny. Even when she didn't agree, she was always willing to be there for whatever her friends needed. She was a true representation of Gryffindor loyalty.

Ginny separated from me after a few moments, beaming. "Well, I've got to go. I promised Harry I would see him before curfew", she said quietly. "But I'm glad we got the chance to talk."

"Same here", I nodded. Ginny walked to my door as I grabbed my wand and magically reset the cup of pencils onto my desk, making it as if nothing had ever happened. She was nearly out the door when I stopped her.

"Ginny? Say hi to Harry for me, will you?"

Ginny turned, smiling brightly, her eyes shining with warmth. "I will", she assured me, and with a little wave, she exited my room.

As soon as she was gone, I sighed and walked over to my bed, falling onto the soft, fluffy comforters. I stared at the ceiling. Although Ginny had given her consent to my friendship with Draco, I still couldn't help but feel that she was uncomfortable with it.

Why?

I understood that it was a change, I had even had to convince myself that our friendship was real, but couldn't people just trust others, for once? Trust wasn't a bad thing when used correctly, and I needed to show Harry and Ginny that they could trust Draco.

But how?

Interrupting my thoughts, a loud hoot came from my window, and I shrieked in surprise, rising from my bed. At the window, stood a large, black owl. I had never seen it before, but as I observed it, its majestic form intrigued me. It also had come with a letter. Walking over to my open window, I shuddered as the cold night air hit my skin.

"Hello", I purred to the owl, and it hooted once more. Resting one hand on its head to soothe it, the other reached down at its foot to untie the silvery ribbon the held the letter to it. Once untied, I stared at the fancy envelope the letter was encased in. It was as black as the owl, with a silver monogram containing two letters, D and M, with a snake magically sliding through them. I smirked at the obviousness of it all.

What would Draco was at this time of night?

Apparently the moment I had taken to think had been too much for the owl, and he impatiently nipped at my finger. Reaching over for the jar of owl treats I kept, I fed him one and sent him on his way, closing the windows behind him. Even the bird had some of Draco's characteristics, I mused. Looking down at the fancy envelope in my hands again, something in my chest fluttered with excitement, and I rushed to my bed again, sitting cross-legged before beginning to open it.

As I did, an especially alluring scent presented itself to my nose, and I smirked at his aristocracy again. Scented paper? Oh the trouble he went to just to deliver a message. It was quite ridiculous really. My fingers deftly opened the parchment card that had been inside of its casing, and I began to read.

Hermione,

I've really been thinking about your invitation for me to reside at your home for the holidays. Although it is a strange request, I can't help but think that I would be a fool to turn down a nice vacation with you to stay here at Hogwarts, alone. As you said before, no one deserves to be alone for Christmas. Since we're friends now, I can take your invite in stride. I've decided that I'd like to accompany you for the Winter Break, of course, if you'll have me. Thanks for everything, and next time we meet we can discuss the arrangements.

Sincerely,

Draco.

I stared at the paper for a moment. Draco wanted to come to my house for the Holidays. He had actually considered it. I smiled, and reread his words again. Of course I would have him! I couldn't wait to discuss things with him, and to show him what Muggles were really like. Besides being excited, I was also inexplicably proud of him. The fact the he had relinquished his father's racist hold on him enough to stay at a Muggle home? I wanted to hug him for it. It seemed that Draco was finally realizing that he was his own person, and if he had to use me for that, then I wouldn't object.

A thought crossed my mind.

I hadn't told Ginny or Harry of my plans for Draco to stay with me for Christmas. Frankly, I didn't think they would've been able to handle it, and they would have embarrassed Draco and me. I was fully capable of handling this situation myself. What a surprise this would be, when they finally found out one day. For once, I didn't hold in my urge to laugh but instead, embraced it.

The sound was unfamiliar, light and tingly, reminding me of wind chimes, but most of all, it was childish. I then realized, that I hadn't laughed in a long, long time. Glancing down at the paper again, my laughing increased.

It seemed that with Draco, there were always surprises.

VVVVV

Hey guys! I'm sorry I haven't been able to update lately. With school and things, it took me an even longer time to write this, but I don't regret it! It's not my best work, as I'm suffering from a bit of writers block at the moment, but I'm going to try my best to update sooner! Please feel free to give me some inspiration by leaving ideas, reviews or constructive criticisms, you have no idea how much they help and inspire me! On a happier note, Draco will officially be spending Christmastime with Hermione! Yay, they're getting closer to being a couple! Love to all! X